Finishing Projects | ADHD Information

 I don't know how much help I can be, especially when this is something I'm always battling with....especially since I always have several big, time intensive projects with my job.

 I have noticed that if I have deadlines, I can usually get into what it is I need to do..although at the last minute.  I guess it is the challenge of being able to finish it so quickly..? I'm not sure.  But if you can find out what challenges your mind to get your interest back into it, that's my best advice.  But it can be difficult trying to trick myself, if I know the deadline's not 'real.'

 Also, looking at the overall project can give me hesitation, so I try to focus on various, smaller sections of it at once.  I don't like doing it, but keeping an outline w/ deadlines and steps in the overall project helps me remember all I need to complete as well.

I almost need some sort of concrete time limit. A point of no return. Not just, "oh, I plan to have this done by May 15th", because May 15th will come and go in a blink and my project won't be finished.

Thinking back on the projects I have finished, it has either taken me years, or I have done them for a special occasion. I finished a Halloween costume in two weeks once, because I wanted to wear it for Halloween. Of course, it was the last two weeks of October. I finished a detailed cross-stitch project in a few months last year because I wanted to give it to a friend as a wedding gift - I had two weeks to spare. Ahem... now I have committed myself to sewing a ring pillow, and making 8 silk flower bouquets for another friend's wedding later this year, but I'm not too worried because I have a concrete, point of no return date to motivate me.

And now, drum roll please, I must announce that I finished the very first cross-stitch project I ever started working on - I bought this kit in 1999, before the turn of the bloody century for godsakes, and I finally finished it last Wednesday night. It is a 11x14 inch northern lights wolf design, and it is absolutely gorgeous. I think it only got finished because after I finished my friend's project last August, my boyfriend forbade me from starting anything else until this was done.
Like bcgirl1978 it helps to have someone who cares about me encouraging me along the path to completing a project.  So....  HEY ERIC, FINISH IT!

I expect to see weekly progress report until it is done.  
Best of Luck.

You can also forbid yourself from engaging in your favorite distractions until it is done and plan on some kind of reward separate from the project itself.
ghead

sorry about the yelling. < =""> Thanks for the advice guys (I hope that doesn't sound sarcastic, it wasn't meant that way).  I guess I'm going to have to decide if it's something I really want to do, and then just jump right in and fully commit to it.  Luckily this project naturally breaks down into smaller subtasks, so it should be fairly simple (famous last words) to break it up into smaller projects with their own "deadlines".  And, although it's mostly my project, there will be at least one other person, and maybe three, helping me with it.  So, that should help me stay on task.

gearhead, are you sure you want weekly updates?  If I spend most of my free time working on it, you'd be getting weekly updates for at least two years (I told you it was huge).


P.S.  Heh.  I just looked at the clock.  It's been about 45 minutes since I started writing this little post.  I may be in a bit over my head.
I think when you have a specific project in mind, the meds can really help. I have finished 1 large project in my entire life, and though it was a commercial failure, it was in fact finished. I took Adderall during this time and it worked well for me. It still takes a ton of discipline though.

Like a lot of people here, I have a really hard time finishing projects. I'll get really excited about something and put a lot of effort into it, but then I'll completely loose the motivation for the project. My life seems to be a never-ending string of half-completed projects and projects that never got past the planning stages. It's really frustrating because I feel like I never really accomplish anything (which is basically true). Most of the time I still really want to finish the project, but the desire to do it is gone (if that makes any sense).

My latest project is huge. And its now to the point where, to continue, I'd have to really commit to it. Which would require both time and money. But, once again, I've started to lose the desire to do it. And I'm afraid that if I commit to the project, it'll end up collecting dust with all the other half (well, not even half) finished things in my life. The thing is, this project could potentially turn into a fairly profitable business. And even if it doesn't, it's still something I really want to do.

Does anyone have any tips that have helped them stay focused and motivated on a project?

I've been looking into systems to convert projects to prioritized acton lists. The starting point is 'GTD', "Getting Things Done", by David Allen, a system that seems to me is meant for ADDers. Some folks are working on systems that offer their suggestions on what you should do next based on the relationship among the action, the projects and subprojects it is part of, and the shifting importance of the projects. I don't know whether this kind of thing can really work well, but folks are trying.

Here is an idea:

If you really want to do it, find a partner. Find someone you trust who does not have ADD and is very organized. Even if they do not technically understand your project, they can help you schedule it. This person would need to sit down with you and break the project down into pieces. Then you would need to work with them to realistically determine how much time you have available and how much time each piece of the project will take.

Then this peson will have to help you put an actual work schedule together just like a project manager would do. You may even want to print timesheets or something to track you work hours so you can adjust the estimates as you go along.

The real trick here is finding someone willing and with enough patience to do this with you.

 

 

No, I don't necessarily want to get weekly updates from you for two years.  I much prefer the solution Chazinmo suggests because it  would be someone you know (making you more likely to care what they think) and  being able to make it a multi-modal interaction (face to face, phone, letters, emails....).  However,  I do not  offer my support if I'm not willing to follow through.  (I have learned to say NO when asked to do something I can't or won't do.). In this case if you  cannot find someone else to check in with-- then contact me  with a private message and I'll give you my off-board contact information.  Also, while I may be sarcastic or facetious in some of my posts, I was not in this last to you.  I seriously IDENTIFY with your situation and can almost feel your shoes  squeezing my feet.
ghead
< =""> medication really has helped me muster  the disipline to finish tasks i start.  At work I used to have a weeks work hanging around waiting for me to do 40 minutes of paper work before I started medicine. On bigger stuff I am still struggling a bit. It's halfway through the semester at school  and I am getting the " I DONT WANT TO GO TO CLASS TONITES"  I feel like a 4 yr old stamping my feet menatally when it's time to go to school.... but I  am GOING!. Last semester I blew off a lot of classes in the second half but, they were histories and I knew I could Ace them  anyway...I know I won't get away with it this semester  and  it's nice  that I have had the disipline to go even when I haven't wanted too the last few weeks